Rays still haven't established identity

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The pennant race came to Tropicana Field Monday night. But apparently someone forgot to tell the Tampa Bay Rays' fans. Hosting the biggest series in franchise history -- admittedly, a very short list -- the Tampa Bay Rays failed to sell out last as showdown with the Red Sox for American League East supremacy, won by the Boston, 13-5. The Rays are enjoying their first winning season since their inception and have been in first place for every day the last two months. As the team's final homestand got under way, the Rays were attempting to hold off the Sox, who went into last night a game behind in the standings. The Trop has a modest seating capacity of approximately 36,000, but Monday night, the left- and right-field corners featured rows and rows of unsold seats. The announced attendance was 29,772. And unlike Boston's last visit here, during the first week of July, Tropicana Field wasn't limited to Tampa Bay loyalists. When David Ortiz blasted a three-run homer in the first inning, it was just like old times here. Most of the fans seated on the third-base side, behind the Sox' dugout, rose as one, as did others above in the upper deck. A decidedly unscientific estimate put the percentage of Red Sox partisans at about 40 percent of the crowd. That wasn't uncommon when the Rays were routinely losing 90 or more games in each of their first 10 seasons of existence. With the locals mostly disinterested in the continually rebuilding Rays, tickets for Red Sox fans -- both those who had migrated to Florida permanently or just wanted a three-day getaway -- were plentiful. In July, that changed, seemingly for good. The Rays spent the first half of the season establishing themselves as legitimate contenders and appeared to have won over the fans. For the first time, Rays' supporters clearly outnumbered Red Sox fans; a sea change had taken place. Surely, the Rays' credentials burnished further after two months of fine play, capped by two wins in three tries at Fenway Park last week, would result in the most fervent turnout of the season. Or so it seemed. Instead, the house was again nearly split. Undoubtedly, that served to further frustrate Rays players, several of whom had been critical of the nonsupport. Scott Kazmir, Monday night's starting pitcher, criticized the tepid fan support in midseason after the first-place Rays attracted a string of crowds under 20,000. (Even in this, their best season, the Rays will fall far short of drawing 2 million fans, the benchmark for most successful franchises). Fan support, evidently, has an effect on the team's on-field performance. After an opening day loss, the Rays went into Monday night having won 18 games in a row when they drew crowds of 30,000 or more. Talk about home-field advantage. Even as they have artfully built a franchise brimming with young talent -- with more prospects in the wings -- the Rays have struggled to establish an identity. In their futile years, the Rays drew only when the Red Sox or Yankees came to town. Part of that can be blamed on demographics of Florida, which has already attracted snowbirds from the Northeast. It's natural that native New Englanders would continue to root for the Red Sox while those from the New York area would transfer their support for the Yankees (or Mets in interleague visits.). But now that the Rays have established themselves, it would seem logical that the fan base would follow. It hasn't happened yet, however.(Contact Sean McAdam at smcadam@projo.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)